


Fear

by Brawl2099



Category: Wolverine (Comics), X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 19:23:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21258380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brawl2099/pseuds/Brawl2099
Summary: A quintet of young X-Men encounter a horrifying entity





	Fear

Laura Kinney concentrated on deep breaths, trying to keep her body from kicking into fight or flight mode. She could feel her claws fighting to spring free from her knuckles, part of her natural instincts. She could hear Gabby next to her doing the same. She held her hand out to her sister, and quickly felt her grab and hold tight.

“What the hell are these things?” Jubilee muttered behind her. She reached down and took Chamber’s hand. Jono squeezed as he loosened the scarf from around his neck.

_ I have no idea _ , he muttered telepathically.

“Stay tight together,” Laura said. “Don’t let them separate us.”

“Easy enough for you to say,” Sunspot said. “But we have no idea how it will play out in practice…”

The quintet had been out for dinner and a movie in San Francisco, enjoying a night away from the team and their responsibilities. The young mutants had decided to walk to the gateway home, rather than an Uber or taxi. They were only a few blocks away from the theatre when they were approached.

There were about ten of them. Each of the figures were humanoid, but nearly every one of their features were indistinguishable. They were shrouded in darkness, their gait was slow, steady, but halting, as if their limbs were… wrong. Each of them stared directly at the five young X-Men with glowing eyes, each of them a different unnatural color. It wasn’t until they drew closer that Laura discerned their only distinct feature.

Each of the figures had growths coming from their heads that resembled horns or antlers.

It definitely made the whole scene worse.

“Succubi,” Gabby choked out through panicked breaths.

“What?” Jubilee whispered.

“S-succubi,” she said again, a little clearer but no less scared. The group continued towards them. Some of them didn’t even seem to take steps. They were just suddenly… closer.

“Gabby,” Laura whispered. “It’s okay. I’m here.” She held her sister’s hand tight, trying to be the strong one. In truth, she was trying not to pee her pants. She had faced monsters, robots, and literal demons before, and hardly blinked. But these things… They were inspiring a fear she hadn’t felt before.

“I think they’re succubi, psychic vampires. Monsters that feed on emotion.”

**TRUTH**

The word filled all their heads and the quintet jumped. Jono pulled his scarf fully off, exposing the bionuclear furnace in his chest.

_ Fuck off _ , he growled.  _ You can’t have us. _

**pain**

**we want your pain**

The voice was different this time. Laura looked directly at one of them. It was smaller than the rest. No more than a child. It was the speaker.

“I think the faceless boy speaks for all of us,” Bobby said.

_ Hey. _

“Sorry amigo.” Then at the monsters. “You can’t have us.”

<strike> FEAR </strike>

<strike> GIVE US YOUR FEAR </strike>

<strike> YOUR TERROR </strike>

<strike> YOUR NIGHTMARES </strike>

“I’m about to become your nightmare,” Laura growled. She let go of Gabby’s hand, held up her fists. Her claws slowly slid free. “Let us move on, and I let you live.”

**no**

“Bobby,” she whispered. “This is going to-”

“We’re not leaving you,” he growled. Her jaw dropped. He smirked at the look on her face. “What, I know you Wolverines. Noble to a fault. We’re not leaving you.”

“Sunspot,” Gabby said. “She’s right. She’ll heal. You won’t.”

Bobby was shocked for a moment. “But…”

“Gabby,” Laura whispered. “You are just the smartest damn kid I’ve ever met.”

“Kid sisters always are.”

**you can’t go**

**we will feed**

**we will consume**

**we will feast on your pain, your fear, your despair, your hopelessness, your anxiety**

**you are food**

**we are hunters**

**you are weak**

**we are strong**

They were closer now. A few moments more and action would be impossible.

_ Jubes, _ Jono said.  _ Whatever happens… _

“Jono. Don’t.”

“Laura,” Bobby whispered.

“No, she’s right. Thank you. I’ll see you on the flip side.”

She took one step forward, turned to her friends, and her face shifted from fear to anger. Her lips twisted into a snarl. She was going to show these monsters not to screw with her family. Not tonight. Not like this.

They would always remember the night they faced the Wolverine.

And lost.

“RUN.”

In that moment, Laura Kinney was a young woman transformed. Gone was the young adult, quiet but confident and self-assured. She was the picture of someone who had suffered so much trauma in her life, but had come through the other side stronger.

That girl was replaced by a wild animal, a primal hunter stronger than everything else it had ever faced. She was a whirlwind of claws, teeth and blood. She was death personified, a monster that could take everything it faced and show it why she was the apex predator.

They were in terrified awe of what they saw for a moment before Gabby snapped them out of it.

“YOU HEARD HER RUN!”

At that Jono spun and blasted the creatures with his full fury, a bionuclear blast that would have incinerated almost anything else.

These creatures were thankfully knocked aside.

They broke into a sprint, headed straight for the gate out of San Francisco. Behind them, the roars of an angry animal pierced the air, accompanied by the psychic impression of fear and pain…

Just before they crossed the gate, the screams turned to pain.

=X=

“Did you find her?” Cyclops asked Wolverine.

Logan’s shoulders were slumped and his breath was weary. He has come to truly regard Laura as his daughter in recent times, and being sent to rescue her by her panicked friends… It was the worst thing a parent could do.

“I did. She’s with Jeannie now.”

“Was it-”

“Worse,” he said. “Pete, Bets, Kurt and I found her right where they described. She was… she was broken Scotty. There was no sign of those things, but she was torn to shreds and her emotional state…” He took a deep breath. “Bets said she had completely closed off her mind, probably as a coping mechanism. But the pain she was in…”

“Will she be okay?”

“I hope so.”

“Did she win?”

He laughed. “Knowing her… you bet your ass.”


End file.
